Learning from Alaska
When we explore, compare and contrast other property markets for the purpose of learning, Alaska is not usually one that comes to mind. However, the city of Anchorage made global headlines this week for taking a new approach to a pretty old housing solution. Like most cities around the world, housing in Anchorage is at…
Read MorePent-up demand, backed by pent-up savings
What a week, no fewer than three named storms hit Ireland, and there is more to come. In a way, this sums up the housing mood too. Last week we noted the latest CSO figures showing property prices increased by almost 15 percent last year, putting prices less than 4 percent off the Celtic Tiger…
Read MoreHow reliable are the usually-reliable market indicators?
According to the latest CSO figures released this week, Irish property prices increased 14.4 percent last year. This is the highest annual increase in over six years. The average increase in the capital was just over 13.1 percent, while prices outside of the capital rose by 15.4 percent. Significantly, apartments in Dublin saw the lowest…
Read MoreBreathing new life into old houses – this time, it will be different
In the same week that the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council issued a warning about the lack of builders within the State right now, and explained how this shortage of skills “puts [the] National Development Plan in danger”, the Government announced its plan to facilitate the retrofitting of half a million homes around the country by the…
Read More2009 Housing Policy: “Nothing good came of this mess”
“On reflection, it would have been a good idea to instruct landlords to embark upon raising the quality and standard for bedsits while, and this is key, maintaining their cheaper rent. But that’s not what happened. Bedsits were banned…” Irish Times, Monday January 31st, 2022 Even the most evolved amongst us will know the sense of satisfaction…
Read MoreHousing demand exists, there is no need to pay favourites
The property conversation this week has been dominated by the fallout from the most recent Housing for All reporting that showed more than 20,000 landlords have left the rental market over the past five years. According to Department of Housing officials, there were 320,000 landlords in 2016, with the most recent figures showing just over 298,000 currently.…
Read MoreHousing Change is Coming
In a week when Irish property price reporting showed a 14 percent year-on-year ‘surge’, the limited supply of new and second-hand homes is demonstrably creating a hectic buying market. It is worth looking beyond the average figure and noting that property outside of the capital saw annual increases of up to 23.4 percent. The latest…
Read MoreMaking the numbers work
Sean Keyes, writing about Irish property prices for TheCurrency online news publication this week noted that “for private landlords, times are changing”. Well, yes. He chronicles the consistent drip of private landlords choosing to exit the Irish market (approx. 4,000 in 2019 and 2020) and the reduction in the number of buy-to-let mortgages being drawn down…
Read More‘Rural Ireland has the wind in its sails’ … Investors follow the course of these winds
And so it begins… 2022. As we head into a third year of global pandemic, Ireland kicks off the New Year with some surprisingly positive news from the Department of Finance, which has recorded the highest ever tax take of €68.4 billion. Tax receipts increased almost 20 percent last year, with growth described as “robust”…
Read MoreThe other side of the rental crisis
We close out the year recording a nationwide rental price increase of 8%, with the average monthly rent now standing at €1,397, according to the latest RTB figures. As predicted by early-year figures, Dublin has seen a greater initial drop and slower rebound in rental price growth since the start of the pandemic. Interestingly, there…
Read More